Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 1

Official Newsletter of Illawarra Birders Inc. No. 025 April 2014

www.illawarrabirders.org

Club Trip to Lord Howe Island - Howe Was It?

John Young Solves an Old Mystery

Of What Bird is a Herd?

Plus news, trip reports, sightings and more…

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Puzzle Corner

PRESIDENT’S REPORTDuring the first week of March a number of our members including myself were lucky enoughto take part in the club’s birding trip to Lord Howe Island. I and many others observed for thefirst time some great species like White-bellied Storm-Petrel, White Tern and of course theLord Howe Woodhen. At the end of the week fifty species had been recorded by the club. Itwas great to be in a place where birdwatchers are welcomed and I know that everyone enjoyedthemselves and had a wonderful time. Many thanks are due to Penny Potter for her great workin organising the trip. I enjoyed the company of everyone who took part and as President of our club I was de-lighted at how well our members got on. It is not often that you get such a diverse group of people who can getalong so well - this is one of the reasons that I believe that our club has been so successful. We must rememberthat it is important at our meetings and club outings to welcome any new members and visitors, and do whatev-er we can to make them feel at ease, no matter whether they have been birding for years or have just started. Asmile and a kind welcome makes all the difference will hopefully ensure that they will continue to enjoy our cluband birding for years to come.

We have just started a membership drive; for the price of a year’s membership any new members who join nowwill be given membership until 30th June 2015. If you know anyone who may be interested let them know - re-member a membership can also make a great gift. Don’t forget to check out upcoming club activities includingthe Bunnings sausage sizzle. This is one of our main fund- raising events for the club and the more volunteersthat we can get will ensure that we are successful on the day. The money raised will help with the purchasing ofequipment for the club and for the conservation of our wonderful birdlife.

The club is using eBird (formerly Eremaea) as a way of recording our observations for our outings. Memberscan also share their records on eBird and at the next meeting a short presentation will be given to explain howeBird works. I hope to see you at the next meeting.

Terrill Nordstrom, President Cover Photo: Lord Howe Woodhen - MP

In our previous issue you were challenged to find some collective nouns in our wordsearch grid. Themystery words were: a bevy (of quail); a charm (of finches); a company (of parrots); a deceit (oflapwings); a dissimulation (of birds); an exaltation (of larks); a gaggle (of geese); a host (of sparrows);a kettle (of hawks); a mob (of emus); a mustering (of storks); a murmuration (of starlings); anostentation (of peacocks); a parliament (of owls); an unkindness (of ravens); a wisp (of snipe), andmy two favourites: a siege (of herons) and a herd (of curlews!).

You might look at this list and think (as I did) that they are obviously just the random musings ofsomeone with too much time on their hands. However, the tradition of using "terms of venery" or"nouns of assembly"—collective nouns that are specific to certain kinds of animals—stems from anEnglish hunting tradition of the Late Middle Ages. These elements became part of French and Englishhunting terminology by the beginning of the 14th century, and reached the height of their popularity inthe late 15th century. The Book of Saint Albans of 1486 includes 165 collective nouns, mostly describinganimals including many of the above. It did, however also include some humorous references to humangroups and professions: “a Doctryne of doctors, a Sentence of Juges, a Fightyng of beggers, a Melody ofharpers, a Gagle of women”.

If you yearn to learn more about collective nouns, you can’t go past “An Exaltation of Larks: TheUltimate Edition” by James Lipton, available here.

Your next task, should you choose to accept it, is simply this: we are offering a prize that is priceless (inthe sense of valueless) for the most creative new collective noun for a group of birds. A recentcontributor to Birding-Aus reported his sighting of a galaxy of Star Finches - can anyone improve onthat?! Answers by email to the Editor please; winner to be announced at the May meeting.

PS On the subject of murmurations, you cannot afford to miss this amazing footage of a huge Star-ling murmuration in the UK.

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Saving Endangered Species - Why Bother?There has been much debate recently about views on conservation methods expressed byscientists such as David Bowman (pictured), a Biology Professor at the University of Tas-mania. This school of thought for addressing the problem of species extinctions has beendubbed ‘ecological triage’, a process of prioritization by which some species will be pro-tected and others allowed to die out.Bowman has stated “I'm afraid to tell everybody we're in a terminal situation. We're con-fronting a whole raft of species about to go over the extinction cliff”. He has suggestedthat targeting certain endangered species may not be the best use of limited funds. With regard to the Or-ange-bellied Parrot, for example, Professor Bowman says the parrot "looks like it's a goner. There are heroicefforts to try to keep it going in the wild. You really have to look at that expenditure and ask 'is this really asmart use of money?”Species numbering less than a few hundredin the wild, like the Orange-bellied Parrot,are dubbed the "living dead" by some scien-tists. Professor Corey Bradshaw of the Uni-versity of Adelaide states “We call thoseliving dead or zombie species because thelikelihood of them persisting for any reason-able amount of time in the future is prettylow".Other conservation biologists, however, be-lieve that parallels between emergency medi-cine and conservation biology are notappropriate. For example, they consider thatit makes extinction acceptable and allowsgovernments to get away with allocating in-sufficient resources to address environmentalproblems. More than a decade ago, scientistsCameron and Soderquist argued that nations such as Australia should reject the concept of ecological triagebecause it is has the knowledge, time and ability to save threatened and endangered species.Professor Stephen Garnett, a conservation biologist at Charles Darwin University, has said “Here in Austra-lia we have stable government, well-enforced laws and the highest median income in the world. The onlyreason that we cannot hand over the extraordinary array of life we have inherited to future generations is alack of commitment.” Ecology Professor David Lindenmayer believes that it is defeatist to say that someplants and animals should be allowed to become extinct. In his article here he proposes a number of practi-cal measures to help endangered species.

For further reading on the subject, see http://bit.ly/1lt1Ndr ; http://bit.ly/P3aIER ; http://bit.ly/P3aIERSources: ABC News; Economical Ecology; The Guardian; ConservationBytes.com

So where does the environment figure in the Government’s priorities? - Part 2In our previous issue we highlighted the long list of recent Federal Government initiatives that stand tohave a drastic effect on the Australian environment and bird habitats in particular. Another recent additionto the list of bad outcomes for the environment is the return of cattle grazing in the Alpine National Park.On a more optimistic note, however, the Federal Government has confirmed that a Threatened SpeciesCommissioner is to be appointed from 1st July. The Government website advises “To help address thegrowing number of native flora and fauna that are faced with extinction, the Government is appointing

Conservation News

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Australia's first Threatened Species Commissioner to bring a new national focus to conservation efforts.The Threatened Species Commissioner will focus on practical action and ensure that conservation effortsand investment are better targeted, better coordinated and more effective.The Commissioner will complement the Government's responsibilities for threatened species protectionand recovery under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, by having over-sight for the development, implementation and reporting of threatened species recovery programmes.”You are invited to comment on the terms of reference for the commissioner’s role by emailingrecoveryplans@environment.gov.auBirdLife Australia has welcomed the appointment. CEO Paul Sullivan has stated: “A champion for threatenedspecies within government will help to ensure our recovery efforts and funding programs are more strategicand, importantly, throw a lifeline for threatened birds such as the Regent Honeyeater, Orange-bellied Parrotand Western Ground Parrot.”

Another Victorian Duck Shooting Season - Another Illegal SlaughterDebbie Lustig from the Coalition Against Duck Shooting has advised that within the first week and a halfof the 2014 season which opened on 15th March, 100 dead Freckled Ducks were retrieved from just two

wetlands.Other protected species shot and retrieved included a BlackSwan, 5 Eurasian Coots, 3 ravens and a Great Crested Grebeas well as several dozen 'game' species which were shot andthen discarded.

Duck shooters face fines of more than $30,000 and even jailsentences for killing protected species, however these penaltieshave never been enforced. The only prosecutions made so farhave been of duck rescuers. Perhaps in view of their success inkilling Freckled Ducks, Victorian Field and Game Associationchief executive Rod Drew is pressing for a review of their

conservation status to make the killing legal. For more on this story see here.

Illawarra Birders have sent yet another letter to protest against this illegal killing of protected bird species.For more information go to http://www.duck.org.au

Knitting for PenguinsThose of you who know how to use a pair of knitting needles may be interested tohear that your skills can be used to save penguins. The Penguin Foundation, whichis based at Phillip Island, home of the famous ‘Pengin Parade’, has invitedsupporters to join their ‘Knits for Nature’ programme and knit pullovers for LittlePenguins affected by oil pollution.A patch of oil the size of a thumb-nail can kill a little penguin. Oil separates andmats feathers, allowing water to get in which makes a penguin very cold, heavy andless able to successfully hunt for food. The penguins can then die of exposure orstarvation. When oiled penguins are admitted to the Wildlife Clinic at Phillip IslandNature Parks, a knitted jumper is placed on the penguins to prevent them frompreening and swallowing the toxic oil before they are washed and the oil removedby staff.Although the Foundation currently has good stocks of penguin jumpers, they encourage participation in theirKnits for Nature program and will accept all donations which are put to good use in a way that supports LittlePenguin conservation on Phillip Island. Further details can be found at http://penguinfoundation.org.auYou can download the knitting pattern here: http://penguinfoundation.org.au/assets/Wildlife-rehabilitation/penguin-jumper-pattern-2014.pdf

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The Wollongong Indian Myna Bird Action ProgramWollongong City Council is encouraging you to get involved in their program to reduce the numbers ofCommon (Indian) Mynas. The aims of the program are to:

- Reducing the breeding, feeding and roosting opportunities for Indian Mynas.- Conduct a humane trapping program that is acceptable to the community, animal welfare agencies and government.

- To survey and record Indian Myna numbers and impacts to assist with program developmentand future research.

You can register by calling Council’s Customer Service Centre on 42277111. You will be invited to attend a workshop and to purchase a trapat a cost of $50.00. You will also be requested to report back statisticsto Council on Indian Mynas in your area, either directly or via theMynaScan website.For more details go tohttp://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/services/sustainability/Pages/VertebratePestManagement.aspx

Bird Trapping in Cyprus - A Knight in Shining Armour Steps InWell not so much a Knight as a Prince. In our June 2012 issue we reported on the shocking scale of birdtrapping in Cyprus for the restaurant trade. The problem has only worsened in the mean-time, to such an extent that none other than Prince Charles has seen fit to join the chorusof opposition to this barbaric practice. The Prince has demanded urgent action to stop theannual ‘barbaric slaughter’ of half a million migrating songbirds at a British Army base inCyprus.

The birds, many of which migrate to to Britishgardens, often suffer for hours after being illegallysnared in nets or on glue-coated sticks, beforebeing killed and served up as a delicacy in Greekrestaurants for over $100.00 a plate. In a privateletter the Prince has taken the highly unusual stepof writing to the most senior Army commander inCyprus, as well as to the island’s president, con-demning the ‘industrial scale killing’. He claims that it is big busi-ness, run by ‘serious organised criminals’. For more on the story,see here.

As an update to our story in the December 2013 issue about bird hunting in Malta, the government has justannounced that it will increase penalties for illegal hunting tenfold. It has also vowed to increase surveillanceoperations to catch the illegal hunters. This follows a particularly shocking incident involving the shooting ofhighly-protected White Storks. More details here.

Threatened Bird NetworkThe latest edition of ‘Volunteer’, the newsletter of the Threatened Bird Network has just been publishedand can be found here. News about their diverse projects, and information about how you can help are in-cluded in the newsletter.The Threatened Bird Network is a community based program managed by BirdLife Australia aimed at en-couraging participation in urgent conservation tasks for threatened birds. TBN was established in 1996, andcontinues to link the community with conservation of our threatened birds. Over the years a number ofprojects have utilised the services of TBN. This has involved assistance with activities such as surveys, at-tendance at recovery team meetings, and running training workshops. At any time TBN has over 5,000 vol-unteers registered and assists up to 30 projects per year working on threatened bird conservation.

Bee-eater trapped on a glue-stick

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Farewell ShorebirdsTo celebrate the return of our shorebirds to their nesting grounds inthe northern hemisphere, BirdLife Australia is launching a nation-wide event, Farewell Shorebirds, focusing on the fascinating lives ofsome of the 35 species of shorebirds. Farewell Shorebirds will runfrom mid-April until mid-May, concluding on World Migratory BirdDay (10 May).Highlighting the captivating story of the shorebirds’ annual globalmigration from Australia to the Arctic, Farewell Shorebirds will ex-plore why the birds make this incredible journey and how they relyon Australia’s wetlands, coastlines and estuaries for their survival.With five weekly webcasts on an interactive website, and a program of events and activities around thecountry, Farewell Shorebirds will allow birdwatchers to learn more about shorebirds, follow their progressas they begin their travels, and to see live updates on the birds right up till they reach Korea. Click here tofind out more.Illawarra Birders have re-scheduled our monthly shorebird count in May to co-incide with World MigratoryBird Day.

Vulture-killing Drug Now on Sale in EuropeDiclofenac is a powerful anti-inflammatory drug that has wiped out vul-ture populations in India, Pakistan and Nepal. The drug was regularlyused in the 1990’s to treat cattle. When the animals died, Diclofenac re-mained in the body and if eaten by vultures it caused their almost imme-diate death. In about 10 years, the vulture populations in these countriesdeclined by 99%. Now, a repeat of this ecological disaster is threateningEurope. Despite the fact that safe alternative drugs are readily available,Diclofenac has been authorised for use on domestic animals in Italy, andalso in Spain where 80% of European vultures live. The drug is now be-coming widely available on the EU market. According to BirdLife Inter-national and the Vulture Conservation Foundation, this may cause aEuropean mass die off of endangered and ecologically valuable wildlife.Diclofenac was banned in India in 2006 and there are signs that the Indi-an vulture population is recovering – full story here. Please consider signing the petition:http://www.change.org/petitions/janez-poto%C4%8Dnik-european-union-diclofenac-the-vulture-killing-drug-is-now-available-on-eu-market

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  Illawarra Birders’ joint World Wetlands Day “Breakfast with the Birds”event with the Wetland Carers Network proved an enjoyable morningout and a great networking opportunity. The event gained welcome pub-licity for our shorebirds in the ‘Illawarra Mercury’, not one but twice - seehere and here if you missed it.

● Our Bird ID Workshop for Kiama Council on 22nd February was well-received, with hopeful-ly more to follow. Many thanks to Byron Robinson for organising it.

● On 25th February we gave a talk to the Wollongong Garden Club about garden birds.● Following an invitation from the Department of Human Services, we set up our stall at the

Illawarra mini Seniors Expo which took place in Dapto on 19th March.

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You will have noticed thatIllawarra Birders have beenkeeping records of birdssighted on club field trips on the eBird(formerly Eremaea) website. For a dramat-ic example of how this citizen science cangive new insights into bird distribution andbehaviour, the Cornell Lab of Ornithologyhas produced a remarkable visualization ofthe migration patterns of the Orchard Ori-ole, a summer migrant to the USA. Thevisualization was produced using data pro-vided by birders reporting their sightingson eBird; click here to view it.

EBIRD IN ACTION

Illawarra Birders havereceived a generous do-nation of a collection ofbird books from a “re-tiring birder”. Thebooks are generally old-er editions but are nev-ertheless of great

interest, including titles such as ‘TheWorld Atlas of Birds’; ‘Birds of Prey oftheWorld’; ‘Seabirds of Australia’; ‘Birdsof the Antarctic’ and many more. A fulllist of the collection is being compiledand will be available in the member’ssection of our website.

LIBRARY ADDITIONS

At our February meeting the winner of the 2013Illawarra Big Year was announced. After solo ef-forts by Terril Nordstrom in 2011 and DaveBourne in 2012, this was a hotly contested affair.In the end it was Graham Barwell who triumphedwith an amazing tally of 231 bird species seen inthe area during 2013. He gained the title by amargin of a single species; Martin Potter was nextwith a count of 230. Also in close contention werePaul Nesbitt on 228 and Chris Brandis on 225.The winner of our inaugural New Years DayTwitch was Dave Bourne with 107 species.

WHO ARE OUR TOP TWITCHERS?

Illawarra Birders in conjunction with the SouthernOcean Seabird Study Association (SOSSA) have or-ganised our annual half-day boat trip which will takeplace on Friday 18th of July. This is a great opportunity

to seealbatrosses,petrels,shearwatersand otherseabirds atclose quar-ters. The tripstarts fromWollongong

harbour at 7.30am prompt and will finish around11.30am. Please note that booking is essential as placesare limited. Priority will be given to members; anyplaces still available as at 8th of June will be offered tonon-members. The cost will be $45.00 for members,$50.00 for non-members. Contact a committee mem-ber to book your place.

YOUR CHANCE TO SEE SEABIRDS

This year’s Allan Sefton MemorialLecture takes place on Friday 2ndMay at 5.30pm in room 14.G01 atthe University of Wollongong. Theguest speaker is Pepe Clarke (pic-tured) who is the CEO of the Na-ture Conservation Council ofNSW. All are welcome to attend;more information can be found here.

ALLAN SEFTON MEMORIAL LECTURE

I only have this corner left, so here is a somewhat compressedversion of our regular round-up of bird-related news items…South Australian fires push emu-wrens to the edgeHow do birds sleep? RSPB’s Frack AttackHumans, urban landscapes increase illness in songbirdsMauritius kestrels and human-made habitat changePeru's Manu National Park sets new biodiversity recordCrows show the reasoning ability of a seven-year-old childSnowy Owls boom with the lemming population

MEDIAWATCH LITE EDITION

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On 15th March Graham Barwell made the exciting discovery of a Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove on theMount Pleasant track on Mount Keira. The Rose-crowned Fruit Dove also known as Pink-capped

Fruit Dove or Swainson's Fruit Dove, is a medium-sized, green fruit dove with a grey head and breast, anorange belly, whitish throat, yellow-orange iris, and greyish green bill and feet. It has a pinkish-red crownwith yellow border. It grows up to 25cm in length. Young birds lack the distinctive crown and are mainlygreen with yellow margins to the wing and tail feathers.The fruit-doves are members of a group within the pigeon and dove family (genus Ptilinopus). Thesecolourful, fruit-eating doves are foundin forests and woodlands in SoutheastAsia and Oceania. It is a large genuswith about 50 species, some threatenedor already extinct.The Rose-crowned Fruit Dove is dis-tributed in lowland rainforests of east-ern Australia, and monsoon forests ofnorthern Australia, Lesser Sunda Is-lands and Maluku Islands of Indonesia.It is a spectacular, brightly colouredfruit dove which spends its day in thecanopy of rainforests. Despite itscolourful appearance, it blends in wellwith vegetation making it very hard tosee. The diet consists mainly of variousfruits, palms and vines. It feeds in thecanopy of rainforest, mainly in the morning or late afternoon. It swallows fruit whole and particularly likesfigs and the fruit of other species of rainforest trees, palms and vines.Breeding occurs from November to April with 1 egg being laid in a nest made of sticks. The courtship dis-play is similar to that of many other fruit-doves, including bows, advertising ‘coos’ and a pre-copulatory se-ries of jumps from left to right on a branch.

The Rose-crowned Fruit-dove was formerly hunted as game, but has notbeen hunted for decades. Current threats to the species include clearingand fragmentation of lowland rainforest, logging of hardwood forest witha rainforest understorey, fire in rainforest remnants, and weed invasion.For these reasons it is classified as ‘vulnerable’ in NSW. Howeverthroughout its large range it is generally widespread and common and hastherefore been evaluated as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species. Despite the fact that the population trend appears tobe decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to ap-proach the thresholds for vulnerable on the IUCN list.In the Illawarra it is described as rare and nomadic; only around three oth-er sightings have been reported in the region in the last 10 years.

References: Wikipedia; Birdlife International; Pizzey G & Knight F Birds of Australia; NSW Department of Environment & Heritage;Chafer, C.J. & Brandis C.C.P. Handbook of Birds Found in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Adjacent Tablelands

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Activities for April and May 2014

Tuesday 1 April, Evening Meeting - Coniston Community Centre7.30pm – Terry Rankmore, ‘Understanding bush plants from an aboriginal perspective’Please bring a plate to share.

Thursday 3 April, Lunch Time Walk in Botanic Gardens12.30-1.30pm Leader: Martin Potter, Mobile 0437 683 677Lunch time bird walk. Meet at the Discovery Centre. We have permission to use the nearby car park on MadolineStreet (near University of Wollongong eastern entrance, Irvine Street). Car park passes no longer required.

Sunday 6 April, Wader Survey, Windang8.30am Leader: Martin Cocker. Mobile 0418 429 132Meet under the pines by Windang Surf Club. A count that is part of the national “Shorebirds 2020” programmethat will include: Windang Estuary, Why Juck Bay, Purry Burry Point. Bring morning tea.

Sunday 6 April, Bunnings BBQ, WarrawongOn the 6th April we are holding another fund raising barbecue at Bunnings Warehouse, Warrawong. The profitsfrom this barbecue will be used to purchase items for the club and to help support projects that aid in theconservation of birds. There is still a need for people to come and help so if you can spare any time on Sundaythe 6th April please contact Paul Nesbitt on 0429031905.

Saturday 12 April, Field Trip to Southern Highlands8.30am Leader: Nerida Hudspith (0424 417 484)Meet at the Moss Vale Sales Yard, Berrima Road. We’ll start our walk here viewing the dam from the road, thenmake our way back to Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve which is situated on the banks of the Wingecarribee Riverand 2km north of Moss Vale. The reserve has numerous walking tracks, plus a bird list of 80 species, not tomention Platypus. From there we’ll travel north to Lake Alexandra, Mittagong. This will be a full day outing. Pleasebring plenty of water, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, sun screen, insect repellent and don't forget your hat.Car-pooling is encouraged.

Sunday 20 April, Blackbutt Forest, Barrack Heights8.00-9.00am Leader Paul Nesbitt, Mobile 0429 031 905Meet in the car park at Blackbutt Forest, which is accessed via Woodlands Drive.

Sunday 20 April, Survey of Myimbarr Wetlands, Shellharbour9.00-9.15am Leaders: David and Michelle Rower, Mobile 0421 335 037.We will be surveying Myimbarr Wetlands immediately after the Blackbutt Walk (above). Members are invited tocome and assist us in surveying this newly developing wetland area. Survey takes approximately 1½-2 hours.

Wednesday 23 April, Illawarra Birders Survey for Wollongong Council - Mount Brown8.00am Leader: Terrill Nordstrom, Mobile 0420 848 713Meet in the dirt car park located off Gentles Avenue in Dapto.

Sunday 27 April, Atlassing at Puckey’s Estate8.30am Leader: Martin Cocker. Mobile 0418 429 132Meet in the car park by the Surf Life Club at the end of Elliot’s Road, Fairy Meadow.

Thursday 1 May, Lunch Time Walk, Wollongong Botanic Garden12.30-1.30pm Leader: Martin Potter, Mobile 0437 683 677Lunch time bird walk. Meet at the Discovery Centre. We have permission to use the nearby car park on MadolineStreet (off Irvine Street). Passes no longer required.

Tuesday 6 May, Evening Meeting - Coniston Community Centre7.30pm – Tim Billington – ‘India trek, Tigers and Birds’Please bring a plate to share.

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Wednesday 7 May, Survey for Kiama Council – Jerrara Creek Dam and Arboretum8.30am Leader: Michelle Rower, Mobile 0421 335 037Meet at the car park in the picnic area off Jerrara Road, Jamberoo.

Saturday 10 May, Wader Survey and World Migratory Bird Day8.30am Leader: Martin Cocker. Mobile 0418 429 132Meet under the pines by Windang Surf Club. A count that is part of the national “Shorebirds 2020” programmethat will include: Windang Estuary, Why Juck Bay, Purry Burry Point. Bring morning tea.

Saturday 17 May, Field Trip to Royal National Park8.30am Leader: Nerida Hudspith (0424 417 484)NB Remember to purchase your day pass from the visitors’ centre if you don't have a NP sticker, a daypass is about $11:00Meet at the Wattle Forest car park. Take the left turn before the visitor centre, cross Varney’s Bridge (a whitewooden bridge) turn left and follow to the end. After morning tea we’ll cross to Lady Carrington Drive and do awalk before lunch. After lunch there's a possibility of a short walk on the way home for those interested. This isa full day outing, bring morning tea, lunch, water, sun screen, insect repellent and a hat.

Sunday 18 May, Blackbutt Forest, Barrack Heights8.00-9.00am Leader Paul Nesbitt, Mobile 0429 031 905Meet in the car park at Blackbutt Forest, which is accessed via Woodlands Drive.

Sunday 18 May, Survey of Myimbarr Wetlands, Shellharbour9.00-9.15am Leaders: David and Michelle Rower, Mobile 0421 335 037.We will be surveying Myimbarr Wetlands immediately after the Blackbutt Walk (above). Members are invited tocome and assist us in surveying this newly developing wetland area. Survey takes approximately 1½-2 hours.

Wednesday 21 May, Survey for Wollongong Council – Integral Energy Park8.30am Leader: Michelle Rower, Mobile 0421 335 037Meet in the car park off Darkes Road, West Dapto – driveway just past the motor museum on the right.Driveway marked with a sign stating Integral Energy Recreation Park

Sunday 25 May, Atlassing at Bellambi Point8.30am Leader: Martin Cocker. Mobile 0418 429 132An atlas survey of this IB adopted site, about 2 hrs duration. Meet in the car park at the end of Bott Drive, offRothery Street, Bellambi.

Michelle RowerLord Howe Island 1st - 8th March 2014 - Sightings Round-up Martin Potter

As you will read in the following reports, club members got to see most of what they werehoping to see, and more. Fortunately everyone saw a Woodhen, sometimes several; theycame right into the grounds of our accommodation so we didn’t have to go far to findthem. Unusual sightings included an Oriental Plover near the airport and a Latham’s Snipein a small patch of forest near the museum.Several attempts were made to spotlight aMasked Owl, but only one was successful.On Sunday 2nd March a small group of ussaw a White-necked Heron near Mt Lidge-bird. We were confused as we couldn’t find

it on the Lord Howe list. Next morning we asked Ian Huttonabout it - he confirmed that this bird (pictured) was the first ev-er recorded on the island! It was initially sighted by local guideJack Schick a few hours before we saw it. Full lists of all of theclub’s Lord Howe sightings can be found on our eBird page.Photos: Ian Hutton

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When Penny Potter’s email reached me concerningIllawarra Birders’ proposed 8-day trip to Lord Howe

Island, I leapt at the opportunity, even though the timingcut into my work schedule, for it had long been on my listof places to visit, against which I can now place an emphat-ic tick. It certainly lived up to my expectations (thanksagain, Penny), warranting its world heritage status and mynear-empty wallet. Australian ichthyologist and field natu-ralist, Allan Riverstone McCulloch (1885-1925) (after hissuicide in Honolulu, his ashes were interred within thememorial obelisk on Signal Point Reserve) described theisland group as a naturalists’ paradise; it served as a havenfor his history of ill-health and overwork.In the latest edition of Australian Birdlife (March 2014) itis among the ten top spots to go birding, outside of “mybackyard”, as voted by its readers. But birds are just one ofthe many Lord Howe Island’s biodiversity composition, asrevealed by our field guide and naturalist, Ian Hutton, whodelivered four absorbing lectures at the island’s Museum onthe interrelated topics of its geology, flora and fauna, birds,history, conservation, and marine life. Ian’s comprehensivefield program still allowed our group of 26 some free timefor individuals to do their own thing, which I welcomed. Imuch enjoy sharing learning experiences on group walks

with multipleeyes and ears,and this tripwas no excep-tion, particu-larly whenfour of uswere privi-leged to getfive sightingsof a MaskedOwl (or werethere two?) onthe hunt from

fenceline vantage points along Lagoon Road bordering theairfield. Also, our collective close look at the puzzledWedge-tailed Shearwater chick that Ian retrieved from thegrassy sand-dune burrow above Lagoon Beach.However, I also cherish the quiet moments of unimpeded,private and spiritual connection with nature, when I’veoften been reminded of passages from the creative writingsof Britain’s Thomas Hardy and Ted Hughes, America’sRobert Frost and John Steinbeck, and Australia’s Judith

Wright through their in-the-moment observations ofwildlife and landscape, which they, in turn, have sharedwith others in their published works. In contrast to the‘predatory’ birding of chase, hunt and tick, this softly-softly approach has been advocated by David M. Whiteand Susan M. Guyette in their book Zen Birding (O-Books 2010), in my copy of which I have added moreunderlinings as a result of this trip. To get to targetlocations on the island I hired a bicycle (no better place toget back on the saddle after 38 years) for four days, whichalso led to some unexpected sightings en route.The foremostbird I wanted tosee was theWoodhen (pic-tured) the is-land’s phoenix.Reports reachedme of sightingsin various spots,including thegrounds ofSomerset Apart-ments, our is-land home, andof the cemeteryjust up the road;but come lunch-time on day 5, I began to wonder if thiswas the one species I was destined to dip. That afternoon,however, brought my reward, in a walk to The Clear Placenear the off-track to the Valley of the Shadows: a pairwent scurrying in front of me into the undergrowth. Atmy destination, loud calls either side of the clearing alertedme to another woodhen; it hesitated behind some scrubbranches before venturing out to hurriedly join the others.Glimpses then developed into lengthy observation on myway back, when a young unbanded bird was foraging inthe leaf litter beside the track, unconcerned about mypresence. With its strong curved bill it picked up a smallrock to one side and then pecked at the exposed inverte-brates. Shortly after, it disappeared down a hole under aleaning slab of rock and within a few seconds emerged onthe other side. On later inspection, Ian thought this birdhad found itself a place of safety in an abandoned flesh-footed shearwater burrow. After those encounters I cameacross woodhens on a regular basis, but the best contactI had was with a bird on my descent from Goat House

Article & Photos - Mike Morphett

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 12

Cave. I had planned to stop for my picnic lunch at theIntermediate Hill track junction. Instead, I found a patchwhere a fallen tree had been sawn up , and the large logsagainst another tree made an ideal resting place. Nosooner had I sat down, when a Woodhen emerged fromthe understorey, inquisitive, it seems, about this intruder.It pecked at a plastic hook attached to my groundedbackpack and then made a henline formy right shoe. It jumped back in the airwhen I moved my foot and then walkedbehind me to scout for food in the leaflitter, using its bill and not its feet. Com-pleting a Mike-centred circle, it returnedfrom whence it came and out of sight. Alater read of Ian Hutton’s splendidlyillustrated 264-page A Guide to WorldHeritage Lord Howe Island confirmedmy suspicion that this bird had beentargeting my worm-like shoelace.A species I had previously seen onlyonce briefly before off Norfolk Island was the Red-tailedTropicbird (pictured above). On Ian’s walks to Mt Elizaand Malabar we had great views of these birds with theirloud calls and aerial displays. In turn we were givenopportunity to observe some nesting birds, partiallyobscured under cliffside vegetation. Upon reaching GoatHouse Cave, just over halfway up Mt Lidgbird, I felt likeSir David Attenborough as I sat in quiet observationclose to two nesting tropicbirds some fifteen metresapart under the rock overhang. According to Ian, parent

birds take turnsincubating theone egg over a40-45 day period.Little wonder thefirst bird I spentmost time withwas on the nod;if I coughed itwould open oneeye and then driftoff again. CouldI be as patient as

this bird? Authors White and Guyette consider thatobserving the patience of birds can be instructive. Thepositioning of the second bird gave me a clear and closeobservation of its two elongated central tail-plumes, adistinctly diagnostic feature of tropicbirds.A pre-breakfast walk took me to the eastern side of theisland, affording yet another perspective of the Admi-ralty Islands and a view down to the surging waters ofHell’s Gates, tucked between Searles and StevensPoints. Right on the jagged rocky edge below, half adozen Little Black Cormorants appeared to be dozing,but within min-utes they were onfull alert; like oth-er cormorants Isaw round thecoastline, they dis-played little activi-ty. Grazing cattleslowly made theirway across thepaddock. Besidethe boundaryfence I found astray feather andconcluded it to bethat of an Australian Kestrel (above), the island’s solebreeding raptor species. Coincidentally, within minutesI spotted such a bird, surveying the ground from a deadlimb near the treeline. Unlike others seen at a distance

on group walks, thiskestrel allowed me toventure quite closelybefore taking off.‘There is something toluck – being in the rightplace at the right time,looking in the right di-rection at the right mo-ment’. How true,David and Susan.Lord Howe Island haslandbirds familiar to us

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 13

on the mainland, but it’s fascinating to note differencesin behaviour and call among some of them so as tobecome endemics or subspecies in their isolated evolu-tion. In his pocket-size Field Guide to the Birds of LordHowe Island, Ian states that the Lord Howe IslandCurrawong (similar in appearance to our Pied, but with alarger bill) is ‘inquisitive and often follows walkers alongtrails watching with beady eyed curiosity’. Particularly onthe steep Goat House Track I had that same experience

and wondered ifthis species hasworked out thatbushwalkers dis-turb all kinds ofcreatures, here no-tably skinks, whichbecome easy prey.For me the call ofthis island specieslacked the ‘comeon Geelong’ anddefied any gloss onmy part. Likewise,the call of the Lord

Howe Golden Whistler (above) had a different ring.With seemingly little threat or competition this species iswidespread. Often I came across them in twos and threesand much more inclined to forage on the ground thanwhat I had observed in our counterpart.

I was intrigued by the wide range of habitats occupied bythe White-faced Heron, seen on a daily basis, be it onrocky foreshore, mudflats, rainforest or pastureland. One

early morningpresented mewith a humor-ous scene of fol-low-the-leader:two parent Pur-ple Swamphensand their oneblackish chickwere walkingbehind a White-faced Heron insingle file, weav-ing their waythrough a mazeof fallen palmleaves on theedge of the pad-dock across

from Somerset. In another paddock below Malabar HillI spotted an adult swamphen hopping along as it fed andthen saw that its left leg was missing; it was, however,able to take off and land safely before I could take acloser photograph of it. Elsewhere, beside the airstrip,

another adult bird walkedwith a pronounced limp. Idid wonder if these twocripples were victims of‘harm’ Ian spoke of, in-flicted by some islanderspresumably as a paybackfor plundering their gar-den produce.One late afternoon as Iwalked alongside thefenceline beside Old Set-tlement Beach, I watched

a swamphen standing on the edge of a cattle trough,stooping to drink. Also on that far side of the paddockI counted 46 Welcome Swallows; in ones and twos theyflew from one cowpat to another, resting a while facing

the fairly stiffsoutherly breeze.Where else couldthey enjoy such aroost, no doubtattracting plentyof insects, Ithought, if all thecattle were re-moved as anotherisland conserva-

tion-eradication measure? They might just find room onthe wire rope cordoning the access to the football fieldnext to the Bowling Club, where six swallows wereperching on my last morning’s outing. Here, on thegoalpost crossbar a pair of Sacred Kingfishers lookedabout for prey; yet another example of how birds havetaken advantage of human-made structures.

This personal account is obviously only one small mor-sel taken out of an extensive smorgasbord that LordHowe Island has to offer, but enough to whet myappetite for a return visit. I suspect there are others inour group too that have relished the biodiversity feastand now want a second helping.

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 14

Our first guided walk led by Ian Hutton was the morning afterwe arrived. Ian showed us around the Old Settlement areasand explained some of the island’s early history. We saw oneof the original family graveyards and then walked to the jettywhere we watched the ‘Island Trader’ depart for PortMacquarie. It takes 40 hours for the ship to make the tripacross to the mainland. It arrives once a fortnight to bringsupplies for the islanders. All building materials, groceries,vehicles etc. arrive on this ship. Residents can put orders infor groceries from Port Macquarie as most of the stores on the island are quite expensive due to theadditional costs involved in freight.

We next walked down to Old Settlement Beach which isrenowned for the marine turtles that come in each day tofeed on the beds of sea grassclose to the shoreline. Severalof our group later tookadvantage of this and had aswim with these turtles – Whata magnificent experience!!!This was the first place that alot of us got our first glimpse ofRed-tailed Tropicbirds. They were just gorgeous againstthe blue sky.

As we looked out at the paddocks and the palm covered hillsour attention was drawn to the Pacific Golden Ploversforaging in the paddocks with the cows. Lord Howe has ahealthy population of migratory waders and we were treatedto excellent views of most of them whilst on the island. Theviews were breathtaking every way we looked and Ian nexttook us to a lookout over the lagoon which gave wonderfulviews of the lagoon and Mount Gower.

As we walked alongthe road we noticed agorgeous White Ternchick sitting on abranch. I could not resistrushing across the road tosnap a few quick shots ofthe cute little bundle.

Old Settlement Walk

Next on our agenda was a close-up look atsome White Terns and a look at BlackNoddies sitting on their nests. A fewmetres along a sandy track that wound itsway along the edge of the lagoon Ianpaused and pulled the most gorgeousShearwater Chick from a nearby hole.Everyone had an opportunity to admireand photograph this gorgeous baby birdbefore Ian gently placed it safely back inits nest hole.

Our walk finished soon after as we were directed by Ian to theMuseum. This had been a fantastic morning and we had allreally enjoyed such a great introduction to the island and itswildlife

Ian H

utton

See our Facebook page for more Lord Howe Island photos.

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 16

One of my favourite walks of the week was the ma-rine walk on Neds Beach. On a glorious sunny after-noon we trooped out to explore the wonders that

lurked on the rock platformand just beneath the water’ssurface. With a “here’s some-thing I prepared earlier..” airour guide Ian Hutton wouldsuddenly stoop down andretrieve amazing little crea-tures from the rocks. We dis-covered that living in anintertidal rock pool was notas serene an existence as itwould initially appear to beand that these animals had,

of necessity, developed a variety of distinct defencemechanisms. We learnt of the nefarious conduct ofSeastars and their bizarre ability to extend their stom-achs around and even into the body cavities of theirprey, thereby slowly dissolving and ingesting the ab-dominal contents of their hapless victims. These in-clude mussels, vermetid snails and even spiny seaurchins. We alsosaw the amazingBrittle Stars who,not only use theirlittle arms in a row-ing motion to pro-pel themselves, butwho can also actu-ally shed them as ameans of distracting would be predators. (Gives awhole new meaning to the term “laying down yourarms…!”) These they can later regenerate. And whoknew that the large, seemingly innocuous, Sea Cu-cumber had the extraordinarily effective ability of ex-truding tenacious white threads, Cuverian Tubules,from their rear ends to entangle and distract preda-tors? Some even can expel a portion of their stom-achs as a decoy, which along with the tubules, can

also be regrown. SeaHares, beautiful mot-tled brown slugs whichfeed on marine algae,have the ability to ejecta noxious purple dyewhich repulses preda-tors.However, many per-fectly balanced symbi-otic relationships alsoexist. These include the iridescent little green TurtleWeed Crabs which live in pairs within clumps ofTurtle Weed. They protect their weed patch by chas-ing off predators while the Turtle Weed in its turnprovides a home and protection for the breedingcrabs. As usual the female does all the work with thekids, carrying the eggs protectively within the curveof her tail!Turning over many rocksbelow the tide line Ian alsorevealed an array of colour-ful sponges as well as theshells of Vermetid snailswhich, hidden within theirtightly coiled tubes, feed onplankton floating past in thewater. There was also anendless array of stunningcorals, seagrasses, prolificswathes of algae and minutefish flashing silver in thesunlight. The variety of lifeforms was seemingly end-less.Everywhere you looked youwere treated to a new wonder. Whether it was thestunning beauty of the marine life before you, theuplifting sight of Black Winged Petrels, Black Nod-dies and Sooty Terns wheeling overhead, the fossil-ised bird bones and shells encased in the rocksabove, or the shells of centuries and pumice fromthe Kermadecvolcano crunch-ing beneath yourfeet, Ned’s Beachwas truly a magi-cal place to ex-plore. You reallyhave to go see itfor yourself!

Ned’s Beach Rock platform walk

Who’s that urchin with Penny? Sooty Tern

Black-winged Petrel

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 17

Goathouse Cave is in a large overhang in the volcanic cliffs of Mt Lidgbird. Access to the track is from thesouthern end of Lagoon Road. After a half-hour bike ride from Somerset, we climbed through dense,shady rainforest to Smoking Tree Ridge, where the walk became somewhat steeper. Our fears of falling offthe side of a cliff were allayed when we saw that ropes had been installed to help with climbing even wherethere were plenty of handholds provided by the vegetation. Beau-tiful ferns and mosses abounded and before too long we came to a‘0.3Km to Cave’ sign and couldn’t believe how quickly we had ar-rived at this stage. We had to walk around Red-tailed TropicBirds, which were nesting in the cave. Going on further aroundthe ledge we came to a perfect morning tea spot with spectacularviews of Mt Gower and Balls Pyramid and spent about 45minstaking in the scenery.This walk was definitely my favourite on the island and havingTrish for company, reading me stories of future hardships at eachof our rest stops made it so much more memorable.

The first of two pelagic trips arranged for the club set outat 2pm on Friday afternoon across the sparkling clear wa-ters of Lord Howe lagoon, heading towards Balls Pyramid.We were excited with the prospect of seeing some newspecies for our trip and also relieved that we were able tofinally make this journey as the weather and seas all weekhad been too rough. As we rounded Mount Gower ourboat stopped so we could check out the birds that wereflying around the rocky cliffs. We were delighted to seedozens of Grey Ternlets and Providence Petrels.We then headed towards Balls Pyramid which is locatedtwenty three kilometres south of Lord Howe, separated bya deep ocean trench. There were good numbers of Wedge-

tailed Shearwaters and Flesh-footed Shearwaters following our boat and af-ter about thirty minutes we stopped again. As soon as we stopped theWedge-tailed Shearwaters landed so that they could feed. A chum buckethad been placed at the back of the boat, and shark liver oil was also throwninto the water - this had the desired effect. Birds flew in from all directions:large numbers of Flesh-footed Shearwaters, at least six White-bellied StormPetrels (pictured), a Grey-faced Petrel and one White-necked Petrel. Afterabout twenty minutes we continued towards our destination. Balls Pyramidis a breathtaking sight, the world’s tallest volcanic stack towering 562 metresin height (that’s 1,844 feet - taller than the Empire State Building). It is sur-rounded by beautiful clear waters, and flying all around this great rock were

hundreds and hun-dreds of birds. MaskedBoobies (pictured), Grey Ternlets, Red-tailed Tropic-birds and a single Kermadec Petrel were all observed.We then started our journey back home, circumnavi-gating Lord Howe Island. We were able to check outa number of small islands for nesting seabirds and justbefore our return to the lagoon we saw a WanderingTattler on the rocks, a perfect end to a wonderful trip.

Goathouse Cave Walk

Ball’s Pyramid Pelagic trip

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 18

SIGHTINGSAustralian Brush-Turkey 1 10-Feb-14 Bulli Escarpment Forest Nerida HudspithFreckled Duck x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittBlack Swan x 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersBlack Swan 4 16-Mar-14 Myimbarr Wetland, Shellharbour Wetland Dave RowerPink-eared Duck x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Pink-eared Duck 3 26-Mar-14 Bellambi Lagoon Lagoon David Winterbottom

Australasian Shoveler x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittHoary-headed Grebe 4 02-Feb-14 South Channel, Bevans Island Estuarine Illawarra BirdersHoary-headed Grebe x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittHoary-headed Grebe x 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

White-headed Pigeon 1 15-Feb-14 Gwyneville Suburban David Winterbottom

White-headed Pigeon 2 28-Feb-14 Keiraville Shops Suburban Joan ZealeyWhite-headed Pigeon 1 06-Mar-14 Wollongong Botanic Garden Parkland Lorraine PincusWonga Pigeon 1 15-Feb-14 Stanwell Park Parkland Richard SmartBrown Cuckoo-dove 1 10-Feb-14 Helensburgh Garden Richard SmartBrown Cuckoo-dove 1 to 3 28-Feb-14 Balgownie Garden Joan ZealeyRose-crowned Fruit-Dove 1 imm 15-Mar-14 Mt Pleasant Track Forest Graham BarwellWhite-throated Nightjar Heard 19-Feb-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla JackettWhite-throated Needletail 60 23-Feb-14 Bellambi Dunes and Lagoon Coastal Scrub Illawarra BirdersFork-tailed Swift 6 17-Mar-14 Minamurra Headland Coastal Scrub Chris BrandisBlack-browed Albatross 1 26-Mar-14 Bass Point Coastal Terrill NordstromAustralasian Gannet x 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersAustralasian Gannet 5 26-Mar-14 Bass Point Coastal Terrill NordstromPied Cormorant x 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersWhite-necked Heron 5 16-Feb-14 Silos Estate, Foxground Paddock Penny PotterLittle Egret x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittLittle Egret 10 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersRoyal Spoonbill 50 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersRoyal Spoonbill 1 24-Feb-14 University Wollongong Dam Dam Penny PotterRoyal Spoonbill x 12-Mar-14 Gainsborough Bike Track Parkland Dave RowerRoyal Spoonbill 8 16-Mar-14 Myimbarr Wetland, Shellharbour Wetland Dave RowerYellow-billed Spoonbill x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittBlack-shouldered Kite 2 02-Feb-14 Windang Estuary, Lake Illawarra Estuarine Illawarra BirdersBlack-shouldered Kite x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittSquare-tailed Kite 1 20-Mar-14 Hill 60, Port Kembla Coastal Heath Terrill NordstromWhite-bellied Sea-Eagle x 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

White-bellied Sea-Eagle 1 15-Feb-14 Windang Estuary, Lake Illawarra Overhead David Winterbottom

Whistling Kite x 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersGrey Goshawk 1 19-Feb-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla Jackett

Grey Goshawk 1 16-Mar-14 Woonona Urban Martin & Penny Potter

Brown Goshawk 1 06-Mar-14 Wollongong Botanic Gardens Parkland Lorraine PincusBrown Goshawk 3 10-Mar-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla Jackett

Spotted Harrier 1 26-Mar-14 Windang Beach Dunes Coastal Dunes C Brandis, G Barwell

Australian Hobby 1 02-Feb-14 Windang Estuary, Lake Illawarra Estuarine Illawarra BirdersAustralian Hobby x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Peregrine Falcon 1 24-Mar-14 Bulli Fire Station - Antenna Urban Martin & Penny Potter

Australian Spotted Crake x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul NesbittAus Pied Oystercatcher 12 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra BirdersAustralian Pied Oystercatcher 2 15-Feb-14 Orient Point Coastal Illawarra Birders

Sooty Oystercatcher 2 03-Feb-14 Corrinal Beach Coastal David Winterbottom

Sooty Oystercatcher x 15-Feb-14 Orient Point Coastal Illawarra BirdersGreater Sand Plover 1 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

x = present

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 19

Red-kneed Dotterel x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Latham's Snipe x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Latham's Snipe 3 16-Mar-14 Myimbarr Wetland, Shellharbour Wetland Dave Rower

Bar-tailed Godwit 10 02-Feb-14 South Channel, Bevans Island Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Bar-tailed Godwit 15 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Bar-tailed Godwit 11 15-Feb-14 Orient Point Coastal Illawarra Birders

Whimbrel 3 15-Feb-14 Orient Point Coastal Illawarra Birders

Eastern Curlew 1 02-Feb-14 South Channel, Bevans Island Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Eastern Curlew 1 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Eastern Curlew 1 15-Feb-14 Orient Point Coastal Illawarra Birders

Common Greenshank 1 02-Feb-14 Why Juck Bay, Lake Illawarra Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Red-necked Stint 2 02-Feb-14 Windang Estuary, Lake Illawarra Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Red-necked Stint 40 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Little Tern 8 15-Feb-14 Lake Wollumboola Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Whiskered Tern x 15-Feb-14 Orient Point Coastal Illawarra Birders

Kelp Gull 1 02-Feb-14 Windang Estuary, Lake Illawarra Estuarine Illawarra Birders

Kelp Gull 1 03-Feb-14 Corrinal Beach Coastal David Winterbottom

Kelp Gull 2 12-Feb-14 Puckeys Reserve - Beach Coastal Martin Potter

Red-rumped Parrot 3 12-Feb-14 Fred Finch Park, Berkeley Playing Fields David Winterbottom

Red-rumped Parrot 1 20-Mar-14 Wilton Farmland Terrill Nordstrom

Brush Cuckoo x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Azure Kingfisher x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Azure Kingfisher 1 23-Mar-14 Blue Angle Creek, Gerroa Estuarine Martin & Penny Potter

Sacred Kingfisher 1 09-Mar-14 Killalea Woodland Chris Brandis

Dollarbird x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Dollarbird 1 15-Feb-14 Blackbutt Forest Bush Lorraine Pincus

Dollarbird 1 15-Feb-14 Blackbutt Forest Bush Paul Nesbitt

Green Catbird 1 10-Mar-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla Jackett

Variegated Fairy-wren 5 15-Feb-14 Blackbutt Forest Bush Paul Nesbitt

Eastern Bristlebird 1 10-Mar-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla Jackett

Fuscous Honeyeater 2 26-Mar-14 Bass Point Coastal Heath Terrill Nordstrom

Australian Logrunner 1 18-Mar-14 Stafford Farm Track Forest Terrill Nordstrom

Cicadabird 1 10-Mar-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla Jackett

Crested Shrike-tit 1 11-Mar-14 Clover Hill Road Forest Chris Brandis

Spangled Drongo 1 10-Feb-14 Croome Sports Grounds Bush David Bourne

Spangled Drongo 2 15-Feb-14 Blackbutt Forest Bush Lorraine Pincus

Spangled Drongo 1 06-Mar-14 Wollongong Botanic Garden Parkland Lorraine Pincus

Spangled Drongo 1 09-Mar-14 Killalea State Park Woodland Chris Brandis

Spangled Drongo 1 14-Mar-14 Farmborough Heights Suburban Andrew Wood

Spangled Drongo 1 25-Mar-14 Tom Thumb Reserve Heath Terrill Nordstrom

Rufous Fantail 1 06-Mar-14 Wollongong Botanic Garden Parkland Lorraine Pincus

Rufous Fantail 2 06-Mar-14 Illawarra Escapment, Balgownie Forest Joan Zealey

Rufous Fantail 1 16-Mar-14 Blackbutt Forest Woodland Paul Nesbitt

Leaden Flycatcher 1 09-Mar-14 Killalea Woodland Chris Brandis

Jacky Winter 3 20-Mar-14 Wilton Farmland Terrill Nordstrom

Rose Robin 1 10-Mar-14 Bellawongarah Forest Carla Jackett

Rose Robin 1 18-Mar-14 Stafford Farm Track Forest Terrill Nordstrom

Golden-headed Cisticola x 07-Feb-14 Tallawarra Ash Ponds Dam and Bush Paul Nesbitt

Mistletoebird x 12-Mar-14 Gainsborough Bike Track Rural Dave Rower

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 20

Illawarra Birders Field Trips February - March 20146th February 2014 - Wollongong Botanic GardenHighlights: 2 White-headed Pigeons (pictured); a Dusky Moorhen attacking aSilver Gull!Bird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17156361

15th February 2013 - Lake Wollumboola and Orient Point - See separate reportBird lists: Lake Wollumboola http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17637509 Orient Point http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17637640

16th February 2014 - Blackbutt ForestHighlights: A pair of Spangled DrongosBird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17628426

19th February 2014 - Primbee dunes / Perkin’s BeachHighlights: Bar-shouldered Dove; White-throated NeedletailBird list:http://ebird.org/ebird/australia/view/checklist?subID=S17428602

22nd February 2014 - Spring Creek Kiama - Bird ID Workshop forKiama CouncilHighlights: Sacred Kingfisher (pictured).Bird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17156361

23rd February 2014 - Atlassing at BellambiHighlights: 60+ White-throated Needletails passing overheadBird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17662686

26th February 2014 - Purrungully Woodland, Horsley - see separate report.Bird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17210221

6th March 2014 - Wollongong Botanic GardenHighlights: Brown Goshawk; White-browed Scrubwren nesting; Rufous Fan-tail; Spangled DrongoBird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17628308

12th March 2014 - Gainsborough Bike Track KiamaHighlights: 36 White Ibis + 2 Straw-necked Ibis (pictured). 40 species in total.Bird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17405255

14th March 2014 - Spotlighting on Mount KemblaHighlights: Sooty Owl; Southern Boobook.Bird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17438342

16th March 2014 - Blackbutt Forest & Myimbarr WetlandHighlights: 8 Spotted Pardalotes (pictured)Bird lists:http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17486647http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17452023

23rd March 2014 - Sydney Olympic Park - see separate report.Bird list: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17438342

Other events included our regular wader counts around Lake Illa-warra (2nd February 2014 & 2nd March 2014) - bird lists have beenforwarded to the Shorebirds 2020 Programme.

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 21

Purungully Woodland26th February 2014 - Michelle RowerPurungully Woodland sits nestled in betweenfarmland and paddocks and the new West Daptohousing estate and is one of the sites we have beenasked to survey for Wollongong Council. The streetrunning along the western boundary of the woodlandarea consists of houses that are under construction.Unfortunately we found evidence of this in the formof rubbish that had blown from the building sites intothe woodland area.We discovered that this is an excellent site for parrotsand that two species were evidently breeding here.Rainbow lorikeets were investigating and hopping intohollows in the trees and an Eastern Rosella wassighted feeding young. There was also a largepopulation of King Parrots. There were few birdssighted closer to the ground and we saw no fairy-wrens, robins or ground dwelling species. This wasprobably related to the lack of understorey vegetation– this is a very open area consisting mainly of tall trees.There are many tracks which wind their waythroughout this woodland and there is a small damand creek which run through it providing waterneeded for birds to bathe and drink. It will beinteresting to conduct future surveys here especiallywhen the eucalypts are in flower.

Sydney Olympic Park 23rd March 2014 - Nerida HudspithLake Belvedere Island provided great views of threepairs of Darters with chicks on the nest. One nest hadfour chicks with both parents in attendance - awonderful sight. Also on the island were all four of thelocal Cormorants, some of which were nesting.It is evident that this island is a significant breeding androosting sight for these birds within Olympic Park.Although fishing isn’t allowed in this lake the birds are

clearly travelling toneighbouring siteswhere discardedfishing line is a significant problem, putting the birds at risk of becomingentangled and bringing the line back to the nest.

Our group very concerned when we noticed a dead cormorant hangingfrom a tree and even more so when found a female darter alive with herbeak and body entangled, unable to move. A member of the public wasable to retrieve an entangled cormorant that was close to shore. Whatfollowed were phone calls to the park rangers, WIRES and SeabirdRescue; unfortunately none of these rescue services had a boat or canoeavailable over the weekend. The poor Darter would have to wait tillMonday! The cormorant was more fortunate being more accessible; itwas rescued and sent off the vet.

Lake Wollumboola15th February 2014 - Nerida HudspithHalf dozen keen birders braved the bleak, rainyconditions at Lake Wollumboola to join Francesand Allan from the South Coast Shorebird RecoveryProject.Frances kindly shared with us her a wealth ofinformation on the lake’s ecology, its birds and theplans that have been proposed for its futuredevelopment. We benefitted from Frances’ vastlocal knowledge in seeking the best spots to look forbirds without having an impact on them. The lakewas extremely low as it had been deliberatelyopened earlier in the year. Some areas were to beavoided, for example the area where the BlackSwans were drinking fresh water as it surfacedwithin the lake.On the beach  in the fenced off area we had theprivilege of seeing Little Tern chicks  and a RedCapped Plover’s nest - thet were all pointed out tous by Frances and Allan. It was evident that thevolunteers are very dedicated in patrolling thebeach, educating visitors and most importantlyencouraging dog owners to keep their dogs on leads.For a bird club this was a most informative outingand I thank Frances and Allan for their generosity ingiving of their time and knowledge.

Field Notes

Photos: Bill Zealey

Illawarra Birding April 2014 - 22

On Wednesday 11 June The Canberra Ornitholo-gists Group (COG) and Eremaea eBird (ACT) arehosting a presentation by John Young entitled ‘Re-discovery of the Night Parrot’. Full details of theevent can be found here. If you are interested inattending, please email your intention toebirdact@gmail.com. Club members Jill Molan andCarla Jackett attended John’s recent talk to BirdlifeTownsville Branch which they described as ‘awe-some!’ Below is an account of the talk by Branchmember Ian Boyd which originally appeared onBirding-Aus - it is reproduced with his kindpermission.“The Rediscovery of the Night Parrot’ was the title of

John Young’s presentation to a BirdLife Townsvillemeeting last Saturday. John captivated the 160 or soattendees with an informative account of his 15 yearsearch for one of the world’s most elusive birds. HisPowerPoint presentation contained many photos to il-lustrate his search throughout far western Queensland.Twenty four of the first ever photos of the Night Parrottogether with a short video amazed the audience.

Throughout his presentation John’s tenacity and

superior bush skills were evident. Details of his fruit-less searches in various inhospitable places, and of hisscouring of countless numbers of old bird nests for evi-dence of  Night Parrot feathers, showed how he wasable to build up a theory of where the parrot might befound. The high personal financial cost and the neverending dead ends did not deter him for he was certainthe bird was out there. His excitement at finally findingthe bird was relived by the audience who were by thistime hanging onto his every word.

John finished off by saying that the finding of the NightParrot was only the beginning. Many more questionsneed to answered. He explained and illustrated that heis conducting detailed field work with Dr Steve Murphy(an ecologist with expertise on parrots) to gain infor-mation on the bird’s lifestyle, numbers and habitatpreferences. John answered a number of questionsfrom the audience. When queried about the bird’s callhis answer was that the Pizzey and Knight field guidegives the best clue; in particular the part about thetwo note whistle.

All in all, John’s presentation on the rediscovery of abird that had not seen for around 100 years, and thatsome thought was extinct, thrilled the audience whichshowed its appreciation with an ovation of the kindusually seen at the end of a successful stage show. Itwas quite clear throughout that John’s concerns arefor the welfare of the bird above all else. He is alsomindful of the privacy concerns of the property own-ers in the vicinity of where the parrot was found. Withthat in mind, he was not at all concerned about nega-tive comments made regarding the secrecy he has ap-plied to the bird’s location. It was interesting to notethat some in the audience travelled from interstate toTownsville just for the presentation. Such is the inter-est in John’s discovery.”

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ILLAWARRA BIRDERS COMMITTEE

Martin Cocker Records Officer, martincocker@bigpond.comNerida Hudspith Committee Member, nerida.h@optusnet.com.auPaul Nesbitt Vice-President, the_nesbitts3@bigpond.comTerrill Nordstrom President, terrillnordstrom1@gmail.comLorraine Pincus Treasurer, lorrainepincus@gmail.comPenny Potter Secretary, penny@southernphone.com.auMartin Potter Editor & Education Officer, pott@southernphone.com.auMichelle Rower Conservation Officer mrower@ozemail.com.auDave Rower Webmaster, daverower@gmail.com

Photos by M Potter unless otherwise stated